Will Power
by RidingOrangeTides
Summary: How much self force does it take for someone to keep away from the person they're madly in love with? CC/Niles - just to show how crazy they are. xD -Rei
1. Chapter 1

**Just a little something to emphasize how freakin' FRUSTRATING it is for both of them. XD  
**

_I do not own anything of the Nanny.

* * *

_

**Will Power**

_"You realize of course that now I'm going to have to kill you."_

Niles didn't know whether to be completely mortified or not. C.C. evidently could not contain her smirk. She knew that she would catch Niles alone in the house when she came, but never did she imagine that it would be this satisfactory.

"Well? Are you going to just stand there and check me out or can you go now?" Niles zinged.

"Oh I didn't pay 40 bucks to taxi over here just to pay another 40 to go home," she stated, walking past Niles and sitting down on the couch. "How about you serve me for the day and maybe I'll keep my mouth shut about your indecency." She winked at him deviously and somehow Niles was possessed into agreeing.

"I'll go put on my pants…" he groaned as he trudged upstairs.

Niles returned downstairs in his tidy butler uniform, finding C.C. still in her place. "So what absolutely ridiculous things do you want me to do for you?"

"Hm," she pondered for a moment. "Strip to Bob Seger?"

"How 'bout whiskey?"

"Aww, what a turn off. Fine." Her smirk stayed constant.

Niles breathed a laugh as he went into the kitchen and shortly returned with a bottle of whiskey and a few shot glasses. C.C. took one as Niles waited suspiciously. Eyeing him carefully, she drank out of the shot, only to spit it out in disgust.

"This is soap water…" She glared at him as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

Niles chuckled with a teeth flashing smirk. "Sorry Babs, I am who I am." He poured her a clean glass as she sniffed it to be sure. Feeling safe, she downed it.

"So, Butler boy," she started as Niles sat himself down and poured himself a shot. "Is dancing half naked what you do on your own time?"

"…What's it to you?" Niles averted eyes, the mortifying feeling coming back.

"It's kinda hot," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing," she repressed a grin as she took another drink.

"So why are you here?" He started with the questions.

"Because I prefer not to dance in my underwear while home alone."

Niles chuckled and C.C. in no time started to smile as well.

There was something about the simple things that they did—whether it was plainly ridiculous or ridiculously plain. Maybe it was sadism? They both seemed to particularly share that trait. But whatever it was, it seemed to make their hearts swell.

But of course, what could they do about it? C.C. was a socialite. Niles was a domestic. Both of them had to keep that in mind. And lord, it took so much will power.

Niles C.C. nearly choked in laughter—they both spent two and a half hours trying to pull tricks on each other, just like a couple of kids that were the only ones left in a playground.

"Augh, Niles, I think I'm going to wake up tomorrow with a hangover thanks to you…" C.C. said in between breathless laughs as she grabbed her coat out of the closet.

"Good. Now you'll feel how I do whenever you come over," Niles joked and C.C. stuck out her tongue.

He opened the door for her as she put on her coat. "Goodnight Hazel, keep those pants on."

"Goodnight."

She turned to take one last look at him and somehow the headache had already taken place. They stared for a while, deciding whether to do the many things that went by in their minds. But in the end, it all closed with the thought;

_"He's a butler."_

_"She's a bitch."_

And soon C.C. left for her taxi and Niles shut the door.

They couldn't keep going that way, could they? After all, how many chances could a person receive?

* * *

_"So, tell me, Rochester. What'd you do to kill time before I came along?"_

"Well," Niles sighed as he tried not to drop the shot glass from his hand. "Truth be told, I was a little lonely." He turned his head towards C.C., looking her in the eye. "But now I have a hobby."

At this moment C.C. had such a strong urge to smile and laugh, to maybe even kiss him. She had been resisting such a thought ever since he managed to turn her desperation into a one-woman barn. Masochism? Maybe.

_No. This man is my downfall._

She stood up and set the glass down on the table with a clank. "I loathe you," she hissed, trying to convince her self more than him.

He eyed her uncertainly, but soon played the same game. "I despise you," he said with frank dullness as he mimicked her glass move.

"Servant," she nearly spit.

"Trollop."

"Bellboy." She ran her tongue over her teeth as he glared at her with hidden pleasure sunk into his eyes.

"Brunette."

_"He's a butler— Butler my ass. You shut up and kiss that damn fool."_

And that was it. Any more seconds wasted trying to hesitate would only make the alcohol rush out of their eyes. Under the influence of the whiskey, and very well under the influence of desire, they tossed each other into the others arms and locked themselves into a hasty kiss.

What used to feel so cold against their skin turned into fire, and it engulfed them instantly, and were lost in each others' touch (or more correctly each others' mouths). If it not were Fran and Maxwell interrupting, things could have gotten to the point where they would regret everything.

Fran and Maxwell stood by the door, their jaws dropped in awe. Niles and C.C .noticed them only seconds after and immediately pulled away once they realized they've been caught—let alone realized what they've been doing.

Niles escorted her out casually with their finals words:

"Swine."

"Chicken."

Niles shut the door and glanced at the uberly surprised pair. "Goodnight people," he said quickly as he wiped the lipstick off his face and walked away.

When the morning came, the memories did as well. Whenever Niles was near a wall, he did not hesitate to smack his head on it.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass!" C.C. mumbled as she hit her head on her counter multiple times. "I can't believe that happened…"

_"Hey, at least it wasn't sex—Pshyeah, but we got CAUGHT."_

For weeks, they had continued their natural responses to one another. For weeks, they had pretended that nothing happened. But for weeks, they wanted to relive what they wanted to forget. Their pride and self issues restricted them from even speaking of it, even to each other. Secrets that were not spilled in such an amount of time, only worked as a toxin that slowly murdered each other's mental health.

* * *

_"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?"  
_

C.C. batted her eyes mock-sweetly as laughed.

Niles felt it wise to stop gambling for the day, so he retreated, which slightly disappointed C.C. Did he not enjoy her company? Okay, maybe that was a stupid question, but…

Later that night, Niles started to rethink things. Perhaps his "new lucky charm" would give him an excuse to have C.C. with him. It would be an excuse to reconnect—not that they were connected in the first place, but it would rid awkwardness and relief their insanity.

He entered the bar and searched the area for her. Of course, she of all people to him was the easiest to find, mostly because Yetta was still clinging onto her. He approached her nervously yet confidently, and she eyed him as if she were waiting.

"Ms. Babcock… I don't know if it's the sea air, but you look…" he started jokingly.

"What do you want?" She asked bitterly amused.

"Twenty minutes at the slots with my baby by my side?"

A grin could not help but form on C.C.'s face. "Oh this is gunna cost you _big._"

"I thought you were duty free on the high seas?"

C.C. glared at him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he lifted her hand and kissed it. "Name your price."

Her devious grin returned as she thought. "Ninety-five pounds."

"British?" He said ever so hopefully.

"No…" She turned around to grab Yetta's arm and attach it to Niles'. "Yiddish. Meet your new roommate."

Though quite P.O.'d at her stunt, he was impressed—just like how he was with all of her comebacks. And it didn't really matter once C.C. wrapped her arm around his.

As the gambling ensued, C.C. stayed with Niles, and he won consecutively. This made him happy because it was one, increasing his personal wealth, and two, it gave him an excuse to randomly cheer about with C.C.

"That's a very large sack," C.C. commented as Niles put away his winnings.

He lifted an eyebrow. "You would know." C.C. snorted and hit him on the arm.

As they left they caught the after party of the dance competition. People danced to the playing music as the rather lazy ones sat at their tables and drank. Feeling rather comfortable with C.C. at this moment, he asked her to dance.

For a second, she was rather startled, which gave him a mini heart-attack, but she gladly took his hand. They drifted onto the dancefloor and joined the other dancing couples in the middle of the current song. There was an awkwardness between them, however it soon diminished as they swayed along the music.

_L, is for the way you look at me,_

_O, is for the only one I see..._

Niles tried to look away every now and then; he was scared. But whenever he'd catch her staring at him with those eyes, fear went away. He didn't seem to notice that there was a chance Fran or Maxwell would see them, nor did he notice how coincidental the lyrics of the song were to his situation.

_V, is for very, very, extra-ordinary,_

_E, is even more than anyone that you adore..._

It was getting hard not to smile or pull a little closer. Warmth and speed was building on both of their chests, and soon their eyes were not locked on each others', but on each others' lips.

_and love, is all that I can give to you_

_Love, is more than just a game for two..._

They moved a little closer, pausing in their footsteps, their breath felt on each others' lips. Abruptly, C.C. pulled away.

"No." She unwrapped his arms from her and backed and shook her head, eyes on the floor. "No," was all she could say, to him, and herself. She turned her back to him and walked away, but stopped as he still held onto her finger.

_Two in love can make it,_

_Take my heart, and please don't break it..._

Not wanting to stay any longer, she withdrew her arm and walked off, leaving Niles alone in the middle of a happy crowd. He watched her walk away with a remorseful glint, as if he were looking into space.

_Love, was made for me and you  
Love, was made for me and you...

* * *

_

**Chapter 2 is on its way ;0 Be sure to review! Reviews make me smile. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I really wanted to update. x) This was all supposed to be oneshot, you know. O_O Enjoy ~

* * *

**

_"Don't make me get ugly!"_

C.C. warned, waiting for Niles to zing back at her. Niles stood there, looking as if he were uncertain of her and clutched at his chest, and in a matter of seconds he was unconscious on the floor. C.C. rushed to his side as she ordered Brighton to call an ambulance.

Her heart was thumping in fear as she checked signs of him alive. She grew more and more afraid as she realized that he wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't beating. This was not how things should have turned out. Everything was getting better. They were both forgetting, and returning back to normal. Why'd this happen now?

The paramedics came after about five minutes.

"Why couldn't you idiots come any faster?" C.C. barked in panic. "Now hurry up before I'm paying for a funeral!"

The two men rolled their eyes as they carried Niles in a stretcher after stabilizing him and getting a pulse back. C.C. followed, trying to keep her self-possession intact. As the ambulance drove off to the hospital, she clutched at Niles' hand as she sat next to his stretcher, hoping it would help him hold on a little longer.

They brought him up to the hospital room and put him on the bed. "A doctor is on his way, stay until he arrives," the nurses informed C.C. as she nodded and took a seat next to Niles, taking his hand once more.

"Niles," she said to him with a strict tone, as if he could hear her. "Don't die on me, you hear me, Benson?" Her voice became more shattered each second as her eyes reddened and the back of her throat started to ache. She couldn't lose him now, no. Not after all they'd been through, with and against each other; and especially not before anything much more than that happens.

"Hello there," the doctor called, arriving. "Could you please excuse me miss, I'll be checking on him now." She nodded as she let go of Niles' hand and left the room.

As she walked out she ran into Fran and Maxwell, and had never been so glad to see them. When all her life she'd been focused on her self-composure, this was a time where she could not find the will to do such things.

"Oh C.C., thank God! Where is he?" Maxwell asked in worry.

"Oh he's in there I don't know Maxwell everything was perfectly normal!" She cried frantically. "I said to Niles I'd wish I'd gone to England with you and he said oh sure you could've visited your old neighborhood, Stonehenge."

Max and Fran nodded for it was something Niles would say in a 'perfectly normal' situation.

"And I said, oh you mean the place where the rocks are older than yours? I thought it was so clever!"

C.C. sobbed a little as she sat on down. "And then the scariest thing happened..."

"He had the heart attack?" Fran predicted.

"No not yet... There I was, waiting for a zinger... and nothing."

Fran and Maxwell gasped.

"I even set him up again, I said: don't make me get ugly!" She crooked a finger in emphasis. "And his eyes just rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the floor..." C.C. held at her head and blew into her tissue as the two gasped and cried along with her.

One of the male nurses rolled out a stretcher with a body covered, calling death. Without thinking, C.C. cried in horror as she ran beside it. "Oh! I've killed him! It's all my fault, oh don't leave me!" She wailed as she climbed on top of the corpse and cried like a little child. A woman came out of the same room and this hysterical woman on top of her husband's body.

"Hector! Who is she?!"

She continuously hit C.C. with her purse as they strolled the body away.

...Fail.

C.C. couldn't take being in the hospital any longer. Seeing all those people grieve as every 5 minutes a new person was rolled out and scheduled for a funeral ,ade her feel worse and wore each time.

She sat in the living room of the mansion and tried to calm down. But how could she? Any way she saw things, if Niles died, it would be her fault. She knew the doctor said that he'd be okay, but she just couldn't get over everything. She knew how Niles felt about everything--or at least she could take a really good guess, and she was too selfish to acknowledge him for anything. Not even for the things she saw him to be. She spotted Niles' feather duster on the floor, where he dropped it when he had the heart attack. She picked it up with an affectionate hold.

"God, this is pathetic of me," she mumbled to herself as she stroked through the feathers. How the hell is it so clean after all the dusting?

She idly found herself wandering into the kitchen, where she'd always find Niles. Fran spotted her moping about.

"Oh Ms. Baaabcock," Fran awed. "Hey would you like a cup of coffee?"

C.C. smiled a nod as Fran handed her the mug.

With a sip she spat it out. "That is not coffee, it's gravy!" Fran gave her a knowing smile.

"Oh thank you Nanny Fine I miss him so much," she said as she held the duster to her chest.

"You know I was gunna make a high ball in a dribble cup," Fran added as she pulled out the chair for C.C. to sit. "But it's so messy and well, the kids are all busy."

C.C. smiled in remorse. "I know everyone thought Niles and I hated each other but... that's the only way I can have a relationship... When you really get to know me I'm not a well woman..." she noted as she squinted into space.

"Oh, I know, I know." Fran said as she rubbed her shoulders in comfort.

"And look, you're being so sweet. I really should find a way to repay you... but I won't, it's just not who I am."

Fran raised an eyebrow in disappointment but continued to comfort.

----

It was 3 am and Niles' sleeping pattern was officially turned upside down. He yawned awake as his eyes re-moistened. _Ugh.. I can't wait to get out of this place..._

As he was about to return to sleep, something caught the corner of his eye. He was frightened at first, for he sensed a presence beside him. But when he turned his head, he found C.C. asleep on the chair next to him. She had spent the night watching over him.

"Ms. Babcock?" He whispered.

C.C.'s eyes immediately opened in alert. _Shit, caught._ "Oh um, this is only a dream Niles, you can return to butler wonderland now," she said as she picked up her purse and slowly made her way out of the room.

Niles smiled as he shook his head and returned to sleep. C.C. out in the hallway crashed her head into the wall several times for her unstealthiness.

The same morning C.C. came back to the hospital. She regretted leaving earlier, but she didn't really have a choice. Niles caught her and she was bloody afraid of talking to him at this time.

She walked in with a large basket of flowers, and half joyful-half frightened, she found Niles awake. "Niles, you're awake! How are you feeling?" She said as she tried to hide her fear by sounding sweet. She was uncomfortable looking at him in the eye, so she found herself focusing on his hands. "Is there anything I can get for you" She offered sweetly as she placed the flowers on the end table and sat on the chair.

"Well," Niles started dozily. "I could use another pillow."

C.C. nodded as she went to get an extra pillow from the siding hospital bed. However, when she opened the curtain, she found much more than a pillow.

"Aaaaaaghh!"

Niles wore a smug face and put a finger over his mouth.

Fran and Maxwell immediately sat up. "Oh, um, C.C.," Maxwell stuttered.

"Yeah, uh, we'll be leaving now!" Fran stoof with a failure attempt of fixing her hair and clothes and dragged Maxwell out.

C.C. stood there in scarring shock as she slowly turned to Niles who was sitting up and snickering. She glared at him and took slow steps towards him. "Of all the devilish things you've done..."

Niles flinched as C.C. came close, but rather than striking him, she hugged him. "I saw them when I came in, idiot," she said softly next to his ear.

Niles chuckled as he put his arm around her and patted her back. "I'm sorry," he grinned. "Just trying to make myself feel at home."

C.C. smiled. "And while you're at it, you might want to take off that eyebrow liner, you look ridiculous.

"What?" Niles let go as he rubbed his brows. "Ms. Fine..."

C.C. stared at him and giggled. Niles looked back at her and smiled.

And that was when they promised themselves one thing. It was times like these where they wanted time to stop. Moments like these were always so rare because of their "circumstances." But maybe things would be different from now on. Things wouldn't change dramatically, but maybe they'd learn how to make every moment this treasurable, as if in any moment, one of them could pass out of no where. After all, they were running out of chances.

* * *

_"I'm frightened... I don't want to be alone!"_

C.C. quietly hissed as she crouched away, leaving Niles with a disturbed expression. "Well you finally went crackers."

Niles made his way to the living room and picked up the phone. "Yes hello Dr. Borg? This is Niles. It's about Ms. Babcock. Yes well I think we have a little problem; she's behaving in a very strange way. Well I.. I wouldn't call it delusional..."

"Granmamá, is that you?" C.C. called to Niles as she swayed idly on the chair.

Niles stared down at the delirious and insane C.C. "Yes, child." Talking back to the phone, "maybe I would..." He hung up the phone and faced C.C., who was smiling like a little child.

"Come along," Niles called as he took C.C. arm to drop her off to the loony bin.

-----

It has been two days since C.C. was taken into the Sanitarium and her isolation made her grow even more insane. If anything, being alone and on her own was her biggest ear. It sent her back to her lonely past--staying home alone and bored, her parents divorcing and having to deal with it by herself, lost friends, ex-boyfriends who were only after her for her money (and her body, rawr). And there was only one person who realized it and cared. In fact, he was visiting her right now.

He stepped into her temporary room, which consisted of one tiny twin sized bed, and a small round table with two white leather chairs on both sides. C.C. didn't seem to see him, and looked through him as if he were nonexistent. "Maxwell?"

Niles smirked sourly and sat on the coffee table. "Hm, I think your last jolt didn't do you any good... Still don't get it in your head that Maxwell loves Fran and that you're getting old and alone and have to wear a strait jacket to feel a man's arms around you."

C.C. shuddered and recoiled as she hid behind her knees as his words. "Stop."

Niles softened his grim into a sympathetic smile. Moving his seat on the arm of her chair, he stroked her hair affectionately. "I'm sorry, dear. You just irritate me. In a lovely way."

C.C. remained in her position silently, hiding her face. Seeing like this was so heartbreaking to him; he had to leave. Niles kissed the top of her head as he stood up to go. "Hang in there kiddo."

Making it home, he felt horrible all the way. Things seemed so empty without her. Was this how she felt when he was gone?

Meanwhile Fran and Gracie were in the kitchen, tending to Chester. "You know its really so funny," Fran commented as Chester licked her face. "Usually when a pet misses its master, its really depressed and walks around whimpering.

"Hey..." he gloomed by. Fran and Gracie gave each other stares then looked at him sympathetically.

-----

The next week Niles visited C.C. again while his work was (mostly) done. She appeared more jolly than his last visit--although still very delusional. She sat in the same spot where he had left her, with her feet tucked to the right as her hands rested on her knees.

"Goodmorning, granmamá, would you like some tea?" C.C. chimed with the same tone of illness she had at the mansion.

"Goodmorning, dear, I'm fine," Niles played along as he took a seat on the chair opposite to her. "How are you so far?"

"C.C. can't wait to get home, gran."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"C.C. misses home so much!" C.C. said excitedly.

"Home?" Niles didn't know what she meant. That lonely penthouse? Her childhood home?

"Mhm! I bet they're all waiting for C.C."

Niles snickered. "Child, stop fooling yourself."

C.C. pouted. "Well, I know there's one person waiting for me."

"And who is that?" Niles said curiously.

"Niles of course!"

Niles stared at her, not quite believing it. "Really?"

"Mhm," C.C. nodded cheerfully. "C.C. adores Niles very much."

Niles smiled. "And why?"

"C.C. doesn't know yet," she said as she looked on the floor with slight guilt. "But she will."

Niles stared at her with amazement, still not believing what she had just said.

But it was true--C.C. would have to see it sooner or later. She'd have to see that it was Niles that came to her and still loved her at her worst moments. Niles was the only one who gave such a damn about her. She'd have to see sooner or later that He Was The One.

* * *

**Next Chapter:**

**Colon comes in :0**

**Stay tuned ~  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy New Years! :) Yes, I sorta have a life to post this during New Years, but there was nothing for me to do; the whole family was playing Poker. XD I hope you love this chapter, cause I really had fun writing this one. Also, I wanna thank all my reviewers cause you guys have made me happy. Like a lot. :) and Thanks to Alba for helping me with C.C.'s kickass bitchout. Enjoy!

* * *

  
**

_"Oh yeah well when your clothes come off the insults just write themselves."_

C.C. walked out with Colin with a content look on her face as Niles had the opposite. He glared sadly at them as they walked away and looked down.

Niles shut the door rather loudly as he sulked his way onto the couch. He'd seen the look on C.C.'s face as she walked away with Colin. It was the same look she always gave Maxwell. And now the only difference between the two was that she could actually get this one.

He didn't get it. He thought things were starting to change. They were getting closer, they were becoming friends--best friends. And now this man, whom C.C. magically falls for despite knowing him for no more than maybe 48 hours, was stealing her away from him. Well... she wasn't his.. yet!

Half an hour later, as if connected, C.C. felt the same wave of negativity. She tossed around her salad with her fork as she rested her head on her hand in boredom. Colin had been talking and cracking crude jokes behind the waiters' backs (which would normally please C.C.), but she was uninterested at this time.

He didn't know, but C.C. did see the way Niles reacted when she left with Colin. She only meant to use him as a distraction from Niles. She never intended to hurt him in the process. Who would have thought---C.C. Babcock, the coldhearted bitch of Broadway, was feeling guilty for someone in a much lower class, while on a date. The world had gone mad.

"C.C.?" Colin called. "Are you alright? You seem dazed."

C.C. looked up at him and immediately sat up straight. "Oh, sorry."

"Is it the butler?"

"Huh?" C.C. looked at him with a suspicious stare. "What's it to you?"

"I saw when we left too." C.C. looked down.

Colin scoffed. "You shouldn't worry about the likes of him, dear."

"Excuse me?" C.C.'s temper was beginning to tick.

"He's just a butler, a domestic, the help. They're like dogs, except many dogs have pedigrees." He laughed as he stuffed a slice of chicken into his mouth. "They're there just to clean and cook. Not to worry about."

"Bullshit," C.C. seethed in a rather harsh tone as she stabbed the table with the fork. Colin sat there rather frightened, and then it turned into an amused expression.

"Are you on something, Colin? Cause you seem full of crap today." C.C. barked as he sat there.

"I could ask you the same thing. It seems unlike you to defend the low-lives."

C.C. paused. "You're right." Colin smirked, thinking he'd won.

"It's also unlike me to be seen among low-lives. So I'm out of here. Don't ever come knocking on my door again, I don't like letting the trash in," she continued, gathering her things as she got up to leave.

"You'll regret this C.C. Babcock! You'll never be able to find anyone like me--" he followed her as he nearly knocked into her when she briefly turned around. Her eyes were alight with fury.

"I'll say this once Colin, once, so open up your big fat ears and listen up: Niles is one million times the man you'll ever be and more. Now go fuck yourself and leave me the hell alone before I call the authorities. Goodbye Colon." she spat out venomously.

Before leaving she turned back at him once more. "Oh, and another comment, you're voice is more irritating than Nanny Fine's and you sound like Squidward when he's constipated."

She turned around and left briskly, with her head held high.

Colin squinted into space, not quite understanding what happened. "Colon...?"

-----

This was it. Niles was going to tell her everything. Maxwell was right--he had to let her know, and _now._

He tidied himself up as well as he could--he even took the time to buy a bouquet of flowers. He felt so nervous. He was so tense! Excitement and fear flowed through him like mad.

Niles stood in front of the mirror, still finding the words to say when she came through the door.

"Alright," he started. "It's time I've got something out of my system, Ms. Babcock." He shook his head. "Ehh no that's too formal... C.C.," he tried again as he sprayed his mouth with breath spray. "Look... I've known you, since you were little calf... ugh! No, no no..."

Just in time, C.C. came in. She was still furious with Colin from the day before.

Niles spotted her and walked nervously to her as she opened the closet to put away her coat.

"Alright... it's uh, it's time I got something out in the open." His hands shivered as he held the flowers and his knees shook furiously. "I uh, I think it's time you knew..."

"Oh would you spit it out," C.C. barked. "Colin just dumped me and I have an anonymous call to make to the IRS," she lied.

Niles looked down on the floor suspiciously. "So uh, you're not seeing him anymore?"

"No," she said bitterly. "Well now so what was it you wanted to get out in the open?"

"You," Niles chickened out. "All animals should run free."

C.C. looked up at him in suspicion and crossed her arms. "That isn't what you were gunna say. And why are you holding those flowers?"

Niles became even more tense. "I thought you'd like a snack," he saved himself as he handed the flowers in C.C.'s direction.

She pointed as his pants as she remarked with a grin, "You're wearing your fancy pants..."

Niles looked down, caught.

C.C. smirked as she prepared to tease. "Niiles has a crush on someooone."

"Oh, do not..."

"Niles and his girlfriend sitting on a tree," she danced around him. "D-u-s-t-i-n-g!" She clapped and laughed at her own joke. "Alright who is it?"

In a panic, Niles looked around the room, when he saw Lynn Redgrave come out of the hallway.

"Her!" He pointed triumphantly and ran away. C.C. stared, puzzled, for in a matter of few seconds and distant mumbling, Niles was walking away with her.

But C.C. knew her Niles. She knew when he was lying. And this little last minute charade intrigued her--but all the more it scared her. Niles was so close to spilling everything. And she wasn't sure if she wanted things to change yet... It wasn't like Maxwell's issue with his trouble for commitment... it was just...

* * *

  
_"Marry me?"_

C.C. turned around with shock on her face. He was serious.

He had gone through so much trouble for this moment, he jeopardized everything just to produce his first Broadway play to earn her recognition. He worked so hard... but it all had to go in such vain.

She tried to make a joke out of it, but there was no way she could. So she just laughed at him, sending him away.

When Fran confronted her in the lady's room, she almost went to the point of madness.. again. She had to lie to her, she had to act as cold as she could possibly be. She had to repeat the words that she despised Colin for saying.

"Oh Ms. Babcock," Fran pleased. "Why do you always have to think with your head? What does your heart say?"

_It says to drown you in the toilets and hide your body in my backyard. _"Don't marry a maid," C.C. replied coldly. It was a lie, though. This time, it had nothing to do with class and pride, not anymore, not after its gone this far.

She didn't particularly care about what Fran thought. She found herself blurting out unconvincing nonsense jut to get her off her back. It was really none of her business... mostly.

Later that night Fran forced her to dinner with Niles. Thinking that it would be a chance to get things back to normal, she eventually accepted. But Niles saw it differently and proposed to her. Again. On the way back home, he proposed to her. Again. Desperately, on the phone, proposed to her. _Again._ A total of four times, including the time before. C.C. couldn't take it. She had to turn him down. Four times.

Niles didn't get it at all. He couldn't take it at all. He had to quit. Quit on her, and his job. Being within at least a mile to her broke and chipped away at his heart each time.

C.C. on the other hand planned another approach. It made her look like a really big bitch in the process, but she hoped it would let Niles bring back the "hate" that made them so close. She hoped it told him that she liked the way things were and she just wasn't ready for anything she wanted.

Fran came to her as C.C. checked mail. "Oh Ms. Babcock, please, _please_ apologize to Niles and promise him that you won't bring it up again or rub it in his face?"

"Ummmmmmm no." C.C. replied with indifference. "Nanny Fine, do you remember when I told you that I was waiting for that magic; for that something that just makes my heart pound?"

"Yes?" Fran said hopefully.

"Well I've got it right here," C.C. smirked as she held up her tape recorder. "So you might as well just save your breath sister cause I am gunna milk this for everything it's worth."

C.C. felt really bad about this; but if it made things back to the way they used to be then she was up for it. But things were going to backfire on her. It was always going to be that way because her intentions were correct but her methods were always a pile of shit.

Maxwell spotted C.C. and briskly came over to her as well as she sighed. How many more people would she have to deal with?

"Ah, C.C. there you are. Niles! Now look here C.C. I refuse to let Niles quit because of this ridiculous nonsense between the two of you, do you understand? Now I want you to talk to him, I want you to tell him you're not going to rub it in his face, and fix it."

C.C. looked guiltily on the ground. _He was going to quit...? _"Okay..." she responded shakily. She didn't know that he would take it this far... Her plan had no effect if he were to quit...

Niles quickly walked down the stairs, but quickly retreated back up when he spotted C.C. "Oh god..."

"Niles, get back down here now," Maxwell commanded as if Niles were his teenaged daughter.

He walked back down as C.C. stood at the bar of the staircase. "Niles," she tried to start. "I'm sorry this whole thing happened... Let's just put the past in the past... So you proposed to me four times--"

"Four?!" Fran and Maxwell interrupted in shock.

"Forget it, I've been humiliated enough," Niles said tiresomely as he walked to the couch.

"C.C, C.C.!" Maxwell ordered as she followed Niles after.

"Niles, I'm trying to say something nice!" And she really couldn't handle it. "Help me Nanny Fine!"

"What she's trying to say is," Fran started as Niles impatiently waited on his seat. "That she'd be daaamned lucky to have you... but she's a lesbian!"

C.C. gave Fran a menacing stare. "I am not!" She yelled as she pulled Fran out of the way and sat in front of Niles on the table. She took a deep breath and tried again. It was hard not to feel nervous and achey with the expression of hopelessness Niles wore. "Look, what happened, happened, but it's just between the four of us. Nobody else ever has to know, I promise I will never tell another soul."

And as if God really wanted to fuck up C.C.'s life, she accidentally clicked on the tape recorder, replaying Niles' voice: "Will you marry me?"

Niles closed his eyes, he was so close to letting everything go too.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," C.C. begged. "I pressed it by accident--"

Niles got up, not wanting to listen anymore; his patience was running thin. "That's it, I'm out of here. She is never going to let this go--an elephant never forgets!"

"Oh puh-lease," she said as she followed him as he got up to leave. "You used that pathetic line on me three years ago!"

"See?"

"Maxwell!" C.C. barked. "I cannot do this!"

C.C. continued to follow Niles around, becoming frustrated as he started to walk back up the stairs. "Niles I'm sorry you're quitting, but I'm sure you have a career to fall back on, you know in case this whole dream didn't pan out."

Niles faced her and glared, bending down so she could hear. "Well whatever I have to fall back on isn't half as big as what you have to fall back on!"

"I don't think this is going very well," Maxwell muttered to Fran.

"No, no honey, this is going great," she said in contrary. "This is their natural habitat. _We're_ the strangers. Just don't use a flash, it startles them, they could charge," she joked as she brought herself and Max a step back.

Overhearing, C.C. thought the same. They were bantering again. Maybe this had a chance of renewal after all.

"Me marry you? Please," she scoffed as she walked to the wall of the staircase. "You are a pathetic excuse for a man." She hurt herself saying this.

"Ditto!" Niles spat. He went a step down, wanting C.C. to hear every single thing he said with crystal clarity. "But at least I know when it's time to move on. You are going to be spending the rest of your life pining for a man who doesn't love you, and is married to a woman half your age."

After his comment Fran interrupted seeing that there was nothing C.C. could say to that, waving her arms and hanging on to him. "Oh please Niles, don't go!"

Niles ignored her and went back to C.C., who kept her eyes on the floor. "Look around you; they're married, they're starting a family. Where are you going to be, ten, twenty years from now? You're going to be saying 'Merry Christmas' to your friends in rehab, and wondering what might have been."

Convinced that there was no more to be said, he retreated back upstairs. "I'll be leaving first thing in the morning, Sir."

All eyes turned to C.C., who tried a weak attempt of a smile. "My god, he's right... The best years of my life are gone... and they sucked."

She took a deep breath and glanced at the floor. "I've always stayed too long at the fair... well not this time." She walked over to the end table to grab her purse. "I've got to move on..."

She walked to the door and before leaving, she turned to Maxwell's direction, but made no eye contact with him. "Maxwell my resignation will be on your desk in the morning."

And with that she left, shutting the door behind her.

Why? Why did everything have to happen to her?

Only ten minutes had passed but it felt like ten years. C.C. stood idly at the sidewalk as if she were waiting for her taxi, even though she never called for one. She found herself crying, which she had never done before. She was trained never to let herself break, but this was it, and there was no way she could fix anything at this point. She stood there with her arms crossed and her head down, occasionally wiping her face dry only to overflow again.

She took several glances at the mansion, and her eyes always led to Niles' bedroom window, and every time she looked away to weep some more.

This couldn't be the end, it couldn't be. She couldn't just leave ending on such horrible terms with Niles, oh especially not Niles... she needed to go back in there and make things at least a little bit better. But what was she to say, what was she to do?

C.C. walked back to the front door, closing the exterior gate behind her. Her hands rose and fell in hesitation. She was too afraid to do anything--knock, ring, open. Eventually she chickened out and turned to leave, but as she did, the door opened. Having a miniature heart attack, C.C. found the person to be Niles himself.

He averted her gaze and looked down as he dug around in his pockets for his keys. "I'm going out for groceries for the last time. I thought you should have left by now. It's getting late."

C.C. stood by the side with a pool of words swimming around in her head, not knowing which ones to pull out, and was rather drowning in them.

He opened the gate to leave, but C.C. held on to his sleeve. "Niles, don't leave..." she said, in a low quiet, broken voice.

Niles froze in his place. Never before has he heard so hurt... He turned around to face her, and mere eye contact made her start to cry harder; her eyes and nose red and stuffy.

"Niles please, I-I'm begging you."

He turned his whole body to her and held at her elbows as she was starting to fall, for her knees were wobbly.

"I'm sorry, Niles, I'm sorry I-I had to hurt you I really am," she said with sniffles and hiccups in between. "I'm sorry I said all those things--I just wanted everything to go back to normal, the way they always were. You deserve so much better an-and they really need you--don't let me ruin your life, please don't, Niles." C.C. sounded so hysterical. She tried so hard to keep herself together but only found herself breaking down in front of Niles and it broke even his heart to see her this way.

After spending a few seconds to cry, she continued. "I love you, Niles," she gathered the courage to say as she looked him strong in the eye. Niles felt his heart sink in bittersweet-mostly-bitter feelings.

"But I just"--she hiccupped--"I just... I'm not ready to lose you..."

Niles held on to her closer as he laid his palm on her face and wiped away one side of her tears with his thumb. "Lose me...?"

"I'm not perfect, Niles," she shook her head as she tried a pitiful smile. "I'm far from it and I'm not kind I'm not loving and I'm selfish I'm a bitch and if I let alone married you Niles--" she sniffled and hiccupped once more. "There are just too many possibilities of me screwing up and I'm just so afraid..." her voice faded as she continued to weep.

Niles took a deep breath as he brushed her hair behind her ear. "Stop crying."

"I'm sorry I just can't..." C.C. whimpered as she looked down as she wiped away at her own face with her palms.

"Stop."

"I'm telling you, once I start--"

Niles pulled her closer and held her head up with his hand and kissed her. It took C.C. a few seconds to bounce back into reality. Her whole body became weak and the only support she found was holding on to Niles' arms.

He pulled away, waiting a few seconds and smiled at her. "You've stopped crying."

C.C. became red all over her face and felt light headed.

"Now you listen to me," he started as he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her face dry and pinched her little red nose with it. "All that you have described yourself to be.... is completely true."

C.C. couldn't help but to sigh a smile and hit her forehead on his chin, like a little facepalm.

He lifted her back to eye level by her chin. "But I love you and I will always love the things about yourself that you completely despise."

C.C. felt her eyes watering again. Never, in her whole entire life has anyone offered her such acceptance and love like he just did right now.

"I'm starting to cry again, I think you should stop me." C.C. laughed as Niles chuckled and smiled at her warmly.

She looked at him endearingly. "I love you."

Niles froze in the mix of relief and utter happiness and everything in between. "Love you too, kiddo."

She smacked his arm softly playfully and giggled as Niles pulled her closer into another warm and passionate kiss.

The both of them were overwhelmed with complete relief, joy, love. Everything that they had used and wasted so much will power for in six plus years, finally spilled over. See, sometimes Babcocks did have happy endings.

* * *

**weee~ I guess that ends the frustration part of the story ;P I don't really know if I'm going to include things in between then and the finale, but you guys want one, I'll bring it over. Writing paper drafts til 3 AM is no biggie LOL. **

**Happy New Years, everyone! Have a safe, great, and awesome-riffic 2010.**

**-Rei**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ello! Sorry it took a while to update, it's just that I was working on a (rather smutty) scene and last minute I decided to not put it in here cause it would sorta mess up the point of the story and would make this chapter like 6,000 words long. Uy! But yeah, this is the last chapter. (BUM BUM BUMM.) It's been fun writing again; but I have intercession starting Wednesday, FML..anyways, enjoy. :)

* * *

**  
_"Ms. Babcock, I was thinking... I, I know I shouldn't have asked you to marry me when I did... we weren't ready."_

"That's why I laughed in your face, lover." C.C. said with a joking smile.

They danced steadily to the music, enjoying Max and Fran's anniversary party.

"But uh," Niles paused his footwork as he dug into his pocket and C.C. waited curiously. "I think we're ready now." He took out a black box with a gorgeous diamond ring and opened it in front of her. "Will you marry me?"

C.C. stood there and placed a hand over her heart as it started to pound furiously in mixed emotions that consisted of anxiety, excitement, nervousness, confusion, and fear. She looked at him and at the ring back and forth and just didn't know to say. She had never been happier ever since she and Niles "reconciled", and she was sure she absolutely loved him... but now, it's not that she doubted her feelings, but she was just so scared. Under the pressure, she fled, leaving Niles blinking in saddened confusion.

She felt horrible for running away but it was too late to turn back now. Something churned in her stomach and she didn't know whether it was from all her nervousness or if Fran's catering service was at fault.

She couldn't explain to herself why she felt this way. She should be happy and thrilled and without any hesitation should have said "yes."

"Ms. Babcock?" Fran called. That was C.C.'s signal to get the hell out of there. She made her way to the elevator, but was too late, Fran had already caught up to her. "Ms. Babcock, do you want some time alone?"

"Yes," C.C. replied with the hope that Fran would leave, but to the contrary, the opposite happened.

Stepping into the elevator, Fran isolated them selves. "Okay, we're alone."

C.C. groaned and had one of those mini-strokes that Fran used to give Maxwell.

"So what happened? Niles proposed to you, you didn't know what to say so you just ran out?"

C.C. gave her a look and Fran backed, "just guessing."

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," C.C. said as she winced and Fran took a step back. C.C.'s breathing was getting a little uneasy. "Why does he have to ruin everything, what the hell does he want to marry me for?" Her voice sounded so light and vulnerable; Fran had never seen or heard C.C. this way.

"Because he loves you," Fran answered with an endearing tone. "And why don't you wanna marry Niles?" It turned into scolding. "Do you have any idea how wonderful he is? You know it's not so easy finding a guy like him; the man irons rags!"

C.C. listened to Fran and knew she was right, but those weren't the things she was worried about. Hell yeah C.C. knew how absolutely brilliant Niles was, and how rare a man like him was to find, and not just cause of his skills. She was still afraid of what she was scared of when Niles proposed to her (four times) before. Everything was so perfect now, if she (or her blasted family) messed up anything in the marriage, she couldn't forgive herself. What if her family found out and harassed Niles for his entire life? What if he divorced her, took half their stuff, then got killed by C.C.'s insanely rich parents? Entirely, there was nothing wrong with Niles, it was just her. If they got married, there was too many chances of anything going wrong... and Niles didn't deserve any of it.

All of a sudden the elevator shook and the lights dimmed and re-lit.

"Uyy... that can't be good!"

C.C. began to internally panic. "Relax, relax... justjust.. justjust press the uh, the emergency button," she instructed as she pointed to it.

"Hyeah, okay okay," Fran said trying to keep her composure. She pressed the button. There was no sound or movement, nothing. "Nothing's happening!"

"Uyy that can't be good," C.C. quoted as she started to get nervous. "Okay don't panic, don't panic. Eventually they'll notice that we're missing and they'll go out and find us," she told mostly to herself than Fran.

"Oh my god... What happens if I go into labor?" Fran said with fear as C.C. tried to abuse the emergency button a little more.

"Well, that's gunna happen," C.C. scoffed in sarcasm.

"Uh, yeah, it is!"

C.C. walked over to Fran with "oh my jeebus, I'm going to die" written on her face. "What?!"

Twenty minutes had passed and Fran was laying on the floor with her purse pillowing her head. C.C. was panicking and resorted to her stash of whiskey to calm down. She was in such a pickle; Fran was on the verge of having babies that C.C. had no idea how to deliver while she had to think of what to say to Niles.

Fran had a close contraction that made C.C. scared for her life, but it was a false alarm. When Fran's fetus was in control, C.C. decided to consult Fran.

"How do I know that Niles is the one, how do I know that I'm not making a mistake?"

"You don't," Fran answered softly. "But unless you take a chance, you're never gunna find out... and believe me, _that's_ harder to live with."

C.C. inhaled as she remembered the time she almost idiotically lost Niles and hurt him so much. She didn't want that to happen again. But either way she saw it, it was going to either happen now, if she said no, or happen later, some time, some place, some screw up. Being a former depressed person didn't really help her out on this. Thinking too horribly, C.C. took another quick shot of her drink.

"Do you think I have what it takes to make a good wife?" She asked, almost giving away all her worries.

"No," Fran laughed. "But he does." She smiled and nodded at C.C., hoping that she understood that Niles wouldn't leave her for even that reason.

Soon, Fran began to have contractions again. C.C. tried her best to keep her calm; she had already made her decision on the proposal, now all she had to worry about was Fran and her damn labor--the sudden elevator music seemed to help her. But she couldn't resist but to wonder: they fixed the radio, but not the frickin' doors?!

Fran was breathing unsteadily and C.C. instructed her to breath slowly as she directed, "in... and out!" Funnily, Fran found herself doing the opposite and went "out and in" instead.

C.C. recognized the tune of the music and began to sing. "Don't tell me what it's all... about! Cause I've been there and I'm gla--everybody!" She gestured for Fran to join optimistically.

Fran joined and sang worriedly, using the song to calm herself down as well.

"And those chains, those chains that bind you, that is why--"

"Just the pregnant girl!"

"I'm here to remiiind you!"

"What do you get when you fall in loove, you only get lies and pain and sorrow..."

"So for at least, until tomorooww," C.C. found herself singing by alone.

"Ngaahhhhhhh!" Fran screamed at a contraction.

C.C. started to panic but started to sing again. "Never fall in love again... don't you know that--"

"Ngaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Never fall in love a...." C.C. slowed in fear and worry.

"This is it! They're coming!" Fran wailed as she gripped onto C.C.'s arm and she held onto Fran's hand as well.

"Come on, Nanny Fine, you could hold 'em in a little longer! Please...!" C.C. was on the verge of crying. "I don't know nothing 'bout no birth and no babies!"

"Well Frankly Ms. Babcock, I don't give a damn!" She laid her head back down as C.C. tried to keep Fran together. "Help.. help me!"

Miraculously, Maxwell knocked on the door. "Darling? Darling are you in there?"

"Honey! Honey!" Fran called back in desperation.

Maxwell, Niles, and the children were waiting outside with worry and anxiousness. Niles stood at a distance, fearing yet hoping C.C. would be in there, too.

"Niles!" C.C. called as she got up to the doors and listened to the outside.

"Ms. Babcock?" He yelled, so happy yet nervous to hear her voice. She gasped from inside, overjoyed that he was there. Realizing he sounded too excited, he changed his tone. "Yes, it's Niles..."

"I have an answer to your question!" She said with anxiety and excitement flowing through her, she could hardly breathe. "I thought long and hard about it and my answer is I'd ...."

Her response was drowned out by Fran's screaming.

"Aw crap," Niles groaned.

"What I said _was,_" C.C. tried again.

"Honey you alright?" Maxwell called out to Fran. Irritated with the interruptions, Niles stepped forward. "Of course she's fine!"

He pressed his hand onto the door and listened attentively. "Ms. Babcock could you say it one more time?"

"Niles..." She paused. This was it. "I would love to marry you!"

"Yess!" Niles cried in sheer happiness and joy.

He pushed her fingers through the crack of the door and pulled with all his might and soon the elevator doors were open. Niles was like secretly a ninja or something.

He grabbed her by the hand, pulled her out of the elevator and spun her. "Oh Ms. Babcock I love you!" He pulled her into a kiss (and even bothered to make that "mmmmmpwah!" sound.)

C.C. looked at him, nearly blown away with relief. "Call me C.C.," she said roughly as Niles pulled her closer into an embrace and swayed.

Everyone congratulated the two as Fran interrupted again. "Hey, hello, down here! Babies' comin' out, babies' comin' out!!"

Maxwell immediately rushed to her side and instructed everyone do separate things in order to get Fran to the hospital.

While they were at the hospital, C.C. used this as an opportunity to find out why she was getting so nauseous. She was still feeling sick after she said yes to Niles, and she was scared to death that it was a sign of some sort. Niles was terrified of her mysterious sickness as well. He hoped so hard that it was "happy vomit" and not "oh-fuck-I'm-maybe-dying vomit."

After getting checked up, C.C. consulted Fran again. She was the only person that would actually listen (by C.C.'s force) and understand at the same time. After talking to her and sort of adding more pain to Fran's labor, C.C. was convinced that she was just anxious and she best had the wedding right away.

So they had it while Fran was giving birth.

Epic, no?

Fran struggled as her contractions got worse. It was hard for her to compose herself; she just thought it so ridiculous to have a wedding _over her while she was giving birth_. It was more ridiculous than that one Roseanne episode where her sister got married while breastfeeding her kid. But, since Niles was her best friend and C.C. was coming close to a good friend, she didn't unleash the wrath of a pregnant woman on them.

Right now, Niles nor C.C. cared that their wedding was probably the strangest and cheapest of marriages, probably more than those drive-through chapels in Vegas. All they cared about was that they were finally getting married.

"Do you, Niles, take Chastity Claire Babcock to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Chastity Claire?!" Everyone said in shock in unison. C.C. looked away, embarrassed, but Niles looked at her with adoration in his eyes. "Ohh what a beautiful name!" C.C. smiled at him.

Dr. Renalds popped up. "Okie dopley! We're about to have two more guests at the wedding!"

Everyone immediately put on their masks.

"Say I do!" Fran croaked impatiently at Niles.

"I do!"

"Push!" Dr. Renalds instructed Fran. She pushed and screamed as they tried to carry out the wedding over her.

"And do you, Chastity Claire, take Niles--"

"I do, I do!" C.C. exclaimed impatiently.

"I now pronounce you man and wife you may kiss the bride!" He said, trying to squeeze all of that into a quick breath.

Immediately C.C. and Niles met over Fran's legs and kissed each other innocently, careless of their masks on. Everyone clapped and cheered for them and C.C. and Niles were in total bliss.

"Nanny Fine! You were right! I don't feel like I'm gunna throw up anymore!" C.C. screamed through her mask.

"I'm SO. FREAKIN'. HAPPY FOR YOU!" Fran cried huskily in pain as she continued to push.

Best wedding ever.

------

That night C.C. couldn't sleep, she was far too shocked and excited. Niles held her close in bed spooning, his arms tight around her waist and her head snugly fit under his chin.

"My God, Niles, I'm so surprised..."

"I know, darling, me too."

C.C. smiled and squeezed his hand. "I was diagnosed infertile 20 years ago... It's a miracle I'm pregnant. Niles, you must be God."

Niles chuckled. "Well not really. It took me this many times to break the infertility." He smirked and kissed her neck and she giggled as she placed her hand on the side of his head.

"The closet, the stairs, kitchen... stairway," C.C. began to list, still not believing that they actually did it in those places.

"Limo, Walmart. Then that one time you requested in an aluminum shed at Home Depot."

"That was Yetta's idea, okaayy," C.C. immediately defended and laughed as Niles hugged her tighter.

"That's believable, after all she seems to be a sex goddess herself," Niles joked and C.C. giggle-snorted as she hit him on the thigh and he kissed her on the side of her head and slowly made his way to her lips. She turned around and pulled him closer to her front.

"I swear," she said in between kisses. "if you.. get me pregnant with twins... I'll kill you..."

* * *

_Epilogue_

9 months later...

C,C, sat up against her propped up pillow and held er tiny child in her arms. Niles sat on the ledge of the bed with his arms around his beloved, admiring his beautiful daughter.

"Niles, isn't Clarisse just gorgeous? ...God she better be worth the 9 months of no drinks."

"Yes she is... and yes, she will," Niles chuckled and kissed the side of her head and rubbed her shoulder. "She's a beautiful calf."

C.C. laughed as she smacked his arm. "Those names are for me, not for our baby. It could corrupt her."

Little Clarisse slept peacefully in her mother's arms. eing only half an hour old, none of her inherited features were visible yet, but Niles swore that she was born laughing the way C.C. did instead of crying.

"She was really hard to name, don't you think?" C.C. asked as she tilted her head a little, eyes still glued onto Clarisse as she stroked her little soft red cheeks with her finger.

"Oh yes, our names don't cross very well."

"Ciles," C.C. snickered. "Or the best one Fran suggested: Nastity."

"We'll have to nickname her though. Clarisse sounds too formal."

"Hm.. Clammy sounds cute. Or, I don't know why, but she strikes me as a Cheerio."

Niles laughed at her. C.C. sighed and smiled brightly at Clarisse... She had never looked so happy, especially not in her 23 hours of painful labor. Giving birth to this little mini C.C. was more of a hassle than the Sheffield twins. Niles stared at C.C. with a slight smile, proud of her. She looked so beautiful to him, even without makeup and with tangled hair. He knew that C.C. would turn out to be an extraordinary mother.

"Oh Niles," she said with a sigh as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Promise me you'll help me be the mother I myself never had..."

"Ah, don't worry about such things, love, of course I will," Niles assured as he held her close. "No doubt you'll be a fabulous and loving mother, and we'll raise her to be just like her mother--perfect."

C.C. scoffed. "Perfectly insane." Niles snickered as she touched her nose to his chin. "Thank you Niles."

"Hm?" He looked at her curiously.

"For everything... For loving me when I thought for sure I was going to die and decay alone with no one missing me but some people at the mental institution..."

"'Loving me when no one else would' would have worked too but okay," Niles smirked as C.C. closed her eyes to smile.

"And for giving me her," she said as she held her sleeping beauty up.

"Oh no, thank _you_, for being the woman in the relationship and blowing up into an elephant just for me," Niles said with a grin.

C.C. nuzzled him warmly. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Niles replied as he lifted her chin to kiss her passionately.

From then on, they would live life as if it were complete, when it only would be a tiny scratch on the surface; the very beginning of their journey. All the years they have suffered and endured, all the time wasted on pride, fear, and imaginary hate--it would all melt on much more than what they had now. It was a pity, that before now, no matter how old they grew, they remained as children, their minds closed with immature thoughts and differences. To so many people, they were the most foolish. But out of all the hearts that beat, they were the wisest. Out of all, they were the most fortunate, and out of everyone who bore the same transformation, they were the most evolved. They were lucky, and by far more gifted than those who have left their surfaces rusted out in the rain, and their destination undiscovered.

And that is why their love would never perish. Pain was what it was worth. It was their own courage to set aside everything they thought and love every single aspect of each other that assured them the rest of eternity; the mix of two very different classes. It would always be destined that way for them, in other ways, in other times, whether it was the socialite and the butler, the owner and the waiter, the cop and criminal--okay, maybe not the cop and the criminal, but wouldn't that make an utterly fabulous love story. It took a fool to use status as an excuse to hate, but it took a person of wisdom and truth to use it as a reason to love even more.

Niles and C.C. displayed such a love that was thought to be invisible, and only existent to the two individuals; they showed such a love that would implant itself in all of those understood--such a love, that was only accomplished by them, for when there was so many possibilities of errors, it took a great amount of will power and to resist making them, but so much more, to accept them.

_End.  


* * *

  
_**"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."**  
–Elbert Hubbard, The Note Book, 1927.

* * *

**Okay, I will confess, I took the idea of C.C. being infertile from this one fanfic that I can't remember cause I read it long ago. But I just had to put it in here cause when Chocolover1331 and I read the fic she remarked about Niles having to do her so many frickin times to get her pregnant. XP So who ever wrote the fanfic with that idea in, I hope you don't mind. x)**

**Well, that's it for this fanfic. :) I hoped it you all liked it. Remember to review cause that's what makes my lonely day :)**

**~Rei**


End file.
